The present invention relates to a method and a device for loading stacks of sheet material into a packaging machine feeding unit.
In particular, the present invention relates to a method and a device for loading stacks of cardboard cutouts for rigid cigarette packets into a unit of the above type.
It is known that cigarette packaging machines are fed with stacks of cardboard cutouts intended to constitute the outer container of the packets.
A known unit for feeding packaging machines with stacks of sheet material provides an assembly for removing and transferring said stacks, which are arranged side by side on pallet-like carrier plates; the removal and transfer assembly is provided with a head equipped with elements for gripping a stack and can move vertically and horizontally, so as to arrange itself at the individual stacks and subsequently move up to a station for feeding the sheet material to the packaging machine.
The pallet loading and unloading operations are generally performed by plates of conventional lift trucks with fork elements which are inserted beneath said pallets.
Said loading and unloading operations currently performed require a considerable expenditure of time and labor, since the trucks must perform various movements between the areas where the loaded pallets are stored and those where the unloaded pallets are accumulated. This also prevents the automation of these operations.